Do we know if we are going to heaven? Does the Bible tell us how to get there? Jesus lived, walked, taught and died for us. He chose the twelve to carry on and preach the gospel. After that, he left it up to us. We have his word, The Holy Bible, which he left for us to follow. It is our map to salvation.
“Thou art, Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt 16:18)
What’s in a name? Is it important? Do you think if you married John Brown, he would care if you took the name of Mrs. White? I’m sure he would wonder why you would take the name of someone other than your husband, right? The Bible states that the church is the bride of Christ, so it would be safe to say that Christ’s bride is his church. Christ is the head and the church is the body. So does it make any sense to call Christ’s bride, the church, by any other name than the Church of Christ, or Christ’s Church? If you called it the Church of Anything Else, wouldn’t that be the same as calling yourself Mrs. White when you are married to John Brown? It wouldn’t be in accordance with the law, just as a church by any other name but Christ’s is not in accordance with God’s law.
Can we amend the bible to suit our life?
Deuteronomy 4:2 states:
2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
Whatever the Bible states, we are not to question it. What God says, He means. A command is a command.
The Bible says in Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” It does not say, singing and making melody with instruments, it says with your heart. Is your heart an instrument that makes any noise? Clearly, it does not. So, if we used instruments in worship, would we not be adding to the Bible?
“Do this in remembrance of me…” (1 Cor. 11:24)
In 1 Corinthians 11:24, the Bible states: “And when he had given thanks, he broke the bread, and said, “Take this and eat of it: this is my body, which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me.”
In Acts 20:7, the Bible states: “On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he extended his message until midnight.”
So, if Jesus said to break bread in remembrance of him, and then he said to meet on the first day of the week and break bread, would it not be safe to say that we are to meet on the first day of the week and break bread in remembrance of him? He said, the first day of the week. He did not add, once a month, once a year, or every 3 months, or never. He said the first day of the week, and we have a first day of the week EVERY week.
We call ourselves Christians because we are from Christ, just as Alabamians are from Alabama and American’s are from America, Italians are from Italy, and Mexicans are from Mexico. We are members of his body, WE are the CHURCH. We meet on the first day of the week and break bread in remembrance of him. We worship him by singing hymns and praises and making melody with our HEARTS. We call His church the Church of Christ, because it belongs to him, the bridegroom and we, the church, are the bride.
We do not add or take away from his word, the Bible. His word is found in the only thing he left for us to follow, The Holy Bible. The Bible is our map to salvation. There is only one way to heaven, and that way is found in his word through Jesus. You would not take off to California without a map, whether it be a paper map or a digital one, you would still need a map which gives you directions to your destination. The Bible is our map and gives us directions to our destination for all eternity.
When people question your family traditions, for example, how you celebrate Christmas, you automatically become defensive. You are protective of your tradition, your heritage. That is the way you were taught. You feel, it has to be the right way, because that is how your parents did it, your grandparents did it, and their parents before them did it. If someone told you that you were doing it wrong, you would become stubborn and in defense of your tradition. But, if someone told you that the way you were celebrating that tradition was against the law of the land, you would take a second look at it. You would not want to be punished for something you were taught as the correct way, if it was wrong, would you?
When you study the Bible, it is the word of God and his word trumps anything anyone ever taught you about how to be saved and how God wants you to worship. Just as the Rook trumps all cards in a game of Rook, or the ace of spades trumps all cards in a game of Spades. When you study the Bible, your mind and heart have to be open to learning. When you study the Bible, scripture has to back up everything. Scripture has the final say. It does not matter that you learned it another way from childhood, from your father, or your grandfather, or your great-grandfather. Scripture has the final word, because scripture is God’s word, and God’s word trumps all.
Being defensive, being protective of how you have always done something the same way since childhood, does not mean it is the right way. Being defensive and holding on to a bad practice will not win you a place in heaven if it is not what God wants you to do. Once you learn the way, you are commanded to act on it and follow the right path, the path to salvation. Sometimes, we just continue on the wrong path, because we do not want to hurt the feelings of those that taught us, even if it means disobeying God. Is your salvation not worth more than that?
Remember, you are not promised a tomorrow, you are not even promised the next moment. Whenever God is ready for you to leave this earth, you will be gone from it. Which direction will you go? Can you honestly say, without question, that you are living in accordance with his word?
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